[Ads-l] Major Discovery Relating to "Whole Nine Yards"

[Geoffrey S Nathan]

I apologize for raising this issue so late, but until this morning I never made the connection. If it's been discussed earlier I apologize. 

There is an old expression 'a yard of pump water' probably related to 'a yard of ale' (OED sense 9c of 'yard, n.2). My mother (born in central London in the twenties) used to describe someone not working when they were needed as 'standing around like a yard and a half of pump water'. I can't find that in Google nGram, but did find 'yard of pump-water' as early as 1830. 

Geoffrey S. Nathan 
Faculty Liaison, C&IT 
and Professor, Linguistics Program 
http://blogs.wayne.edu/proftech/ 
+1 (313) 577-1259 (C&IT) 

Nobody at Wayne State will EVER ask you for your password. Never send it to anyone in an email, no matter how authentic the email looks. 

----- Original Message -----

> From: "ADSGarson O'Toole" <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Sent: Tuesday, April 28, 2015 9:53:52 AM
> Subject: Re: Major Discovery Relating to "Whole Nine Yards"

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Re: Major Discovery Relating to "Whole Nine Yards"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Off-list an interesting question was raised about the use of the yard
> measurement metaphorically and non-metaphorically. To clarify the
> previous message, this message presents a longer excerpt. In this
> case, the petition was a scroll, and it was exhibited. The yard
> measurement was non-metaphorical (though it did not involve fabric.)
> Of course, the phrase could easily be shifted to a metaphorical
> application.

> Date: January 23, 1847
> Newspaper: Semi-weekly Union
> Newspaper Location: Washington, DC
> Quote Page 4
> Database: GenealogyBank

> [Begin excerpt]
> Why, he begged leave to exhibit that petition--[unrolling an immense
> scroll containing some hundreds of names.] He supposed that petition
> was about four yards long. [A laugh.] There was another some six
> yards
> long--and another--and another--being altogether over a thousand
> signatures.
> [End excerpt]

> Garson

> On Tue, Apr 28, 2015 at 9:06 AM, ADSGarson O'Toole
> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
> > While searching I did come across multiple instances of a document
> > type with a length measured in yards: petitions with signatures.
> > The
> > following example from 1847 is in the time period of the 1850
> > citation. The laugh indicated the humorous aspect of measuring a
> > document in yards.
> >
> > Date: January 23, 1847
> > Newspaper: Semi-weekly Union
> > Newspaper Location: Washington, DC
> > Quote Page 4
> > Database: GenealogyBank
> >
> > [Begin excerpt]
> > He supposed that petition was about four yards long. [A laugh.]
> > There
> > was another some six yards long--and another--and another--being
> > altogether over a thousand signatures.
> > [End excerpt]
> >
> > Garson

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